South Park: "Insecurity" Review

Banes on the Loose! (Seriously, like, seven Banes.)

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October 11, 2012

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.

As with many South Park storylines, "Insecurity" began with a misunderstanding of Three's Company proportions as Ike mistook his parents' sexual roleplaying for his mother banging the UPS man; a simple slip-up, but one that would ignite an explosion of problems for Wolf Home Security -- and, in a more literal sense, for the aforementioned UPS man. It wasn't long before Ike's crude drawing of the act made the rounds among the male denizens of South Park, prompting a counterstrike against UPS and, by effect, Amazon.com.

Of course, the most notable bit from the episode was the reference to Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Not much to say on this other than it was pretty much all you could really want from a lampooning of Tom Hardy's operatic interpretation of the notorious Batman villain. What really clinched it, though, was the fact that it wasn't just one Bane calling the shots; it was, like, seven Banes. It was also great how every character knew how to deliver an impeccable Bane impression -- even Cartman. ("It doesn't matter who we are. You should have respected my authoritah!")

The guys' interaction with the sage-like Pet Cemetery character was another highlight from this story. His warnings against the hedonism of delivery men and their torrid love affairs with housewives were among some of the best moments this week. I particularly enjoyed his UPS guy/milk man comparison. ("Would you like that milk pasteurized?") This, followed by the progressively more intense and Bane-like assaults on the UPS man, made for a really fun arc.

For Cartman, however, the more reasonable solution was to install a top-of-the-line home security system (which is apparently still a thing). Cartman was also the voice of reason this week, pointing out the obvious shortcomings of these useless services. This came with an abundance of hilarious (and near-identical) examples depicting various home security operators reassuring their clients that police were on their way "with blankets and hot cocoa."

What really drove this arc home, though, was the use of perpetual tracking shots and deadpan delivery from the operators. My favorite of these had to be Cartman's Abbott and Costello password schtick with the In-Security correspondent on the other line: "Yeah, it's 'u love boobs.'" "I love boobs?" "No, 'u love boobs.'" "How did you know that!?"

Indeed, the home security jabs along with the Bane impersonations were a nice combination this week. While the plot here was clearly framed around recycling these two jokes over and over, they were both strong enough to carry out the 22 minutes in full. The additional "ordering stuff from Amazon and not remembering" thing wasn't quite as sharp, but given the ridiculous circumstances, it did the job. Overall, "Insecurity" was yet another admirable entry for Season 16.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.